RESOURCE LEADERS FELLOWSHIP

2019 Participants

Anathea Chino | Advancement Director, UltraViolet

At UltraViolet, Anathea leads the development team for the organization and is a member of the organization’s senior Leadership Team. Anathea has more than 15 years of experience in politics and fundraising at the state and national level. In Washington, D.C., she served as an investment advisor at Democracy Alliance and prior to that, she was the Development Director at NARAL New Mexico and a regional field director for the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Party of New Mexico.

Anathea currently serves on the board of directors and advisory Boards of Inclusv, Americans for Indian Opportunity, and PowerPac+. She is also a co-founder of Indigenous Women Rise and Advance Native Political Leadership. She was also a founding board member and president of Emerge New Mexico and currently an enrolled member of Acoma Pueblo, NM.

Brenden Sloan | Donor Relations Manager, Jobs With Justice

Brenden is the donor relations manager at Jobs With Justice where he is responsible for managing the major donor program and advancing collaborative grassroots fundraising efforts across the JWJ network. Prior to working at JWJ, he launched or managed individual giving programs at

EarthRights International, Human Rights USA and Chora Creative, where he consulted with museums and science centers across North America. Brenden holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Spanish and international affairs, as well as a graduate certificate in international NGO management from James Madison University. While at JMU, Brenden founded and led two student service trips to New Orleans and Haiti, and taught English classes in Argentina and Virginia. He is also proud of spending a summer in Brazil opening a B&B in 2013.

C. Nathan Harris | Vice President of Development, Freedom for All

As vice president of development at Freedom for All Americans, Nathan crafts winning partnerships with philanthropic stakeholders to advance LGBTQ nondiscrimination nationally. Nathan is an LGBTQ and social justice leader with 14+ years in philanthropic development – working at the intersection of love and generosity to realize positive, transformational change for vulnerable communities. Prior to FFAA, Nathan served as director of leadership gifts & centennial campaign at ACLU of Northern

California, leading an historic $200MM+ campaign for civil rights and civil liberties at the largest affiliate in ACLU's nationwide enterprise. As director of advancement at Transgender Law Center,

RESOURCE LEADERS FELLOWSHIP

2019 Participants

he partnered with supporters to achieve breakthrough results in individual giving and shatter the glass ceiling on individual-donor philanthropy to trans-led, trans-specific non-profits. Nathan also served as director of individual giving at Center on Halsted - Chicago's LGBT Community Center - and Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) in NYC.

Casey Hogle | Development Director, Indivisible

Casey is the development director of Indivisible, where she fuels a grassroots movement of thousands of local progressive groups to do effective advocacy and electoral work in every state in the country. She has helped build the organization from the ground up, navigating a rapid growth start-up and responsible for most revenue generation as the organization went from zero to 70 staff in two years. Before Indivisible, Casey spent most of her career managing and fundraising for

peacebuilding and human rights projects in the Middle East and North Africa, where she has lived and traveled extensively. She is a graduate of Carleton College and holds a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She lives with her husband in Boston in the Beacon Hill Friends House, a cooperative living community and center for social justice that advances the values of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

danielle marilyn west | Development Director, Resource Generation

danni is a cultural worker, educator and organizer from a white buffer-class Ohio settler family. Living in Oakland, CA (Ohlone land) since 2010, her current paid work is as Development Director of Resource Generation. Resource Generation organizes 18-35 year olds in the u.s. economic top 10% to become transformative leaders working towards the equitable distribution of wealth, land and power.  danielle’s organizing work has focused on defending and expanding oppressed communities’ capacity

for survival and resistance while also recruiting and politicizing privileged communities to build solidarity. Previously, danni was the development director at Transgender, Gender-Variant, Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP) and on the leadership team of TAJA’s Coalition. She has also held leadership positions with SURJ and predecessor white anti-racist formations, and has worked as a GIFT trainer-organizer.  Passionate about people power, danielle grounds her work in development and resource redistribution as part of the legacy and tradition of struggle for abolition, reparations and liberation.

RESOURCE LEADERS FELLOWSHIP

2019 Participants

Debasri Ghosh | Development Director, National Network of Abortion Funds

Debasri spends her days funding abortion and building power as the development director of the National Network of Abortion Funds. For more than a decade, she’s built the capacity of organizations working to advance reproductive and gender justice. Prior to joining NNAF, she was the director of education & communications for Women’s Way, a feminist grantmaker. The daily practice of moving money to power social change

drives Debasri’s vision, strategy, and leadership style. It also gives her an excuse to talk to everyone she meets, which fills her extroverted heart to no end. She’s an alumna of Sarah Lawrence College, a child of Bengali immigrants, and a mother of two sons. Debasri proudly serves on the boards of the Women’s Medical Fund, Philadelphia’s abortion fund, and the NCDBW, which supports incarcerated survivors of domestic violence. She lives in South Philadelphia with her family and believes you should move here, too.

Felicity von Suck | National Canvass Director, Greenpeace USA

Since 2016 Felicity has been the national canvass director of Greenpeace USA, one of the leading independent environmental justice organizations, where she is tasked with leading the organization’s canvassing teams in the acquisition of new financial and grassroots support. Prior to her role at Greenpeace, Felicity worked for 11 years at DialogDirect, an international

fundraising company supporting non-profits in growing their supporter base through designing and implementing face-to-face fundraising programs. Growing up in New York City she was an active member of the National Association of Independent School’s Student Diversity Leadership Conference. This formative experience compelled her to continue participating for another 6 years as a faculty member, designing the annual conference curriculum and leading trainings for the 1000+ student participants. Felicity graduated from Macalester College with a degree in African American studies and currently lives in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.

RESOURCE LEADERS FELLOWSHIP

2019 Participants

Gerri Lawrence | Development Director, Community Coalition

Gerri is the development director at Community Coalition, a non-profit in South Los Angeles that organizes Black and Brown residents to advance social, racial and economic justice. Since joining the staff in 2011, Gerri has leveraged her background in art from UCLA, and her prior non-profit administrative experience to help strengthen the organization’s administrative infrastructure, co-lead efforts to launch a successful $5M capital campaign, and grow the organization’s cultural organizing

strategies (artivism--arts+activism). She is a talented visual artist, and has collaborated to create pieces that have been featured in local LA news outlets that include the Los Angeles Times. Her work includes a community-driven collage commemorating the life of Trayvon Martin, which was gifted to his family at the Trayvon Martin Foundation, and “Angels of the Movement”, an installation housed at the organization’s headquarters focused on the LA’s 1992 Civil Unrest, in which South LA was the epicenter.

Jeana Frazzini | Director of Philanthropic Partnerships, Forward Together

Jeana is passionate about building relationships to power the work of Forward Together and our movement to ensure that all families have the rights, resources and recognition we need to thrive. Previously, Jeana served as executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, where she successfully built the organization into a nationally-recognized LGBTQ powerhouse, known for innovation, intersectionality and bold policy wins. During her tenure, Jeana led a transformative process to integrate racial and transgender justice into the organization’s culture and priorities. She positioned the organization to play an essential role in the national strategy

to win the freedom to marry, and worked statewide to advance transgender health access, immigrant rights and economic justice campaigns – efforts that profoundly shifted the landscape for LGBTQ people and families. Outside of work, Jeana enjoys 80s dancing and pinball with her husbian, Collin, and adventures with their two amazing sons, Emmett & Griffin.

RESOURCE LEADERS FELLOWSHIP

2019 Participants

Karla Vazquez | Development Manager, United We Dream Network

Karla Vazquez currently works as the development manager for the United We Dream Network (UWD), the first and largest immigrant youth organization. In her role, she manages UWD's multimillion grants and funding contacts portfolio. As an undocumented immigrant, she became an advocate for immigrant rights in 2009. Karla got involved in organizing and advocacy in the immigrant youth movement as an undocumented youth leader in JUMP (Jovenes Unidos por Un Mejor Presente) --a youth project of the Tennessee Immigrant Rights Coalition (TIRRC). Soon after, Karla joined TIRRC’s staff in 2013 as their finance coordinator and later became the community relations

manager, leading the organizations grassroots and online fundraising efforts. She has 8 years of experience leading fundraising efforts including member and donor recruitment and engagement, online giving, grant management, and leading fundraising events. Karla is a native from Mexico City and currently lives in Nashville, TN with her partner and 2 beautiful dogs.  

Karyn Pina | Chief Strategy Officer, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund

Karyn brings over two decades of national corporate and foundation fundraising experience along with expertise in national and statewide partnerships. Karyn is currently serving as chief strategy officer with the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund where she has served nearly 20 years in key leadership positions including deputy executive director from 2008 – 2015. As part of

her portfolio, Karyn oversees the organization’s development enterprise and strategic engagement with external stakeholders. As a nationally recognized Latina fundraiser, Karyn’s professional experience was honed by serving in key fundraising roles with MALDEF and the Tomas Rivera Center. Prior to NALEO Educational Fund, Karyn served as associate vice president for community outreach and engagement at Arizona State University where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Karyn is a third-generation Phoenician.

RESOURCE LEADERS FELLOWSHIP

2019 Participants

Linda Lee | Associate Director, Chinese Progressive Association

The daughter of Hmong refugees, Linda has over a decade of experience building Asian American grassroots power. As the incoming Associate Director at the Chinese Progressive Association, Linda has helped build CPA’s theory and work towards resource generation since 2011. Most recently, Linda served as CPA’s senior development and program manager. Linda also serves as the co-director of Seeding Change - A Center for Asian American Movement Building where she has trained nearly 100 young Asian American activists and organizers. She is deeply committed to nurturing the

leadership and power of those most marginalized, building strong and nimble organizations, and growing our souls.

Marie Michelson | Digital Director, Rainforest Action Network

Marie is the digital director at Rainforest Action Network and has spent 25 years working in the environmental sector. In her five years as vice president of Digital Strategy at Ocean Conservancy, Marie grew the organization’s social media presence to ten times its initial size. She quadrupled digital fundraising, redesigned the website, and created the Skip the Straw campaign during her tenure. Prior to that, Marie worked at Netcentric Campaigns, Greenpeace, National Parks Conservation Association and

Defenders of Wildlife. She holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and sociology from Saint Mary’s College of Maryland.

Marisa Aguayo | Senior Officer for Institutional Giving, National Immigration Law Center

Marisa has lead responsibility for developing and implementing institutional fundraising strategies, which involves securing support from foundations, law firms, unions, corporations, and other associations. She also plays a leadership role in crafting annual fundraising plans that ensure NILC’s long-term sustainability, and currently serves as a member of NILC’s senior leadership team. Prior to joining NILC in 2004, Marisa worked as a program director for the MultiCultural Collaborative, a social justice

organization created after Los Angeles’ 1992 civil unrest. Prior to that, she was a development associate for El Rescate, a legal and social services agency serving immigrants in Los Angeles. Marisa holds a master’s degree in literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

RESOURCE LEADERS FELLOWSHIP

2019 Participants

Marissa Murphy | Development Director, Ohio Organization Collaborative (OOC)

Marissa’s professional experience stretches across the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. After receiving a master’s degree in nonprofit management from DePaul University, Marissa began her career coordinating programming and outreach for the Chicago branch of the

National Alliance on Mental Illness. In 2011, Marissa returned to her hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, where she began working as director of donor services for the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley. Since 2014, Marissa has worked as the development director for the Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC), an innovative statewide coalition of community organizations, faith institutions, labor unions, and policy groups across Ohio. Marissa is passionate about cultivating sustainable support for OOC’s social justice and movement-building work. Marissa lives in Cincinnati with a very spirited collie and tries to bring humor to everything she does.

Mostafa Mahboob | Development Manager, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Chapter (CAIR-LA)

Mostafa has been the development manager at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Chapter (CAIR-LA) since 2014. CAIR is the nation’s largest American Muslim civil rights organization. He leads the organization’s efforts in creating new institutional funding opportunities and building on a strong grassroots community support base. Mostafa has been working in the nonprofit sector since 2003.

Previously, he was the communications manager for Islamic Relief USA, the largest Muslim international relief and development organization in the West. As part of his responsibilities at Islamic Relief USA, he led the relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina, where the organization assisted more than 60,000 people across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Mostafa graduated as a history major from UCLA.

RESOURCE LEADERS FELLOWSHIP

2019 Participants

Paul Ocampo, | Development Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Asian Law Caucus

Paul is currently the development director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, the nation's first civil rights advocacy and legal nonprofit with a focus on serving the needs of low-income immigrants in Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. Throughout his career, he has been committed to the work of social justice. In 2003, as a recent graduate from U.C. Berkeley seeking to protest the Iraq War, he

volunteered to assist author Maxine Hong Kingston in leading workshops for veterans and in editing an anthology of their writings titled Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace. He also worked at the Public Library of Science, a nonprofit open access publisher co-founded by nobel laureate Harold Varmus. Since joining Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, he has co-founded Lacuna Giving Circle, a philanthropic project to support underserved AAPI communities, has joined the Board of Kearny Street Workshop, the nation's first Asian American multi-disciplinary arts organization, and served as co-chair of the SF chapter of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP). Paul was born in the Philippines and came to the U.S. at the age of eleven. He earned a BA in English at U.C. Berkeley, an MA in Asian American studies at UCLA, and an MFA in creative writing at Arizona State University.

Rajiv Khanna | Director of Philanthropic Partnerships, Thousand Currents

Rajiv is engaged in strategy development and effective execution of all activities related to cultivating a just, equitable, and inclusive philanthropic & impact investing sector that centers local solutions, forms learning partnerships with grassroots groups, and reimagines wealth, well-being, and giving. Outside of work and Board service, Rajiv is on the Stewardship Circle of Thrive East Bay, a purpose-driven community in the SF Bay Area of people committed to creating a flourishing world for all. A recovering academic, Rajiv is professionally trained as a historian of international relations and has taught in universities across the U.S. He has also led a

community-centered project focused on South Asian immigrants in Silicon Valley. A native of Bombay, he is a published poet and writer, leads from the heart, gives big hugs, enjoys cooking, the outdoors, the ocean, reading, traveling, and is a cricket fanatic.

RESOURCE LEADERS FELLOWSHIP

2019 Participants

Rebecca Neuwirth | Director of Development, Center for Popular Democracy

Rebecca is director of development at the Center for Popular Democracy, a network of grassroots community organizations working for a more inclusive democracy. Previously, Rebecca worked on major donor engagement at JDC, the largest Jewish humanitarian organization, and at AJC, where she founded ACCESS, the new generation program focused on global bridge building, advocacy and civil discourse, and directed Thanks To Scandinavia, a scholarship fund honoring rescues during the Holocaust. She serves on the Board of Penn South Social Services and

helped to start High 5 Tickets to the Arts, now part of Arts Connection.  Rebecca grew up in New York and has a BA from Yale University and an MA from the Free University in Berlin, in the fields of education and political science.

Saurabh Bajaj | Chief Development Officer, National LGBTQ Task Force

Saurabh is the chief development officer at the National LGBTQ Task Force. The Task Force works to secure full freedom, justice, equity, and equality for LGBTQ people. Saurabh has been a fundraiser and activist for LGBTQ equality since he came out at UC Berkeley, volunteering and then working at HIV and LGBTQ health organizations in San Francisco for many years before his time at the Task Force. He deeply believes that fundraising is social justice, not only as a transfer of wealth but also as a way for people of all means to have their values recognized through their dollars. He is proud to have helped raise millions for the LGBTQ movement over the past two

decades. He currently lives in New York City with his fiancée.

Siobhan Boyd-Nelson | Development Director, Equality Ohio

Siobhan is a native of Columbus, OH and is deeply passionate about the city’s LGBTQ and Africa-American populations. In her current role as development director at Equality Ohio, the statewide advocacy and education organization for LGBTQ Ohioans, Siobhan is responsible for developing and executing the organization’s development and engagement strategies. She brings to the position extensive nonprofit administration, development, and marketing experience from previous roles at Kaleidoscope Youth Center and Stonewall Columbus. Siobhan has

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2019 Participants

served on numerous community boards and is now a commissioner of the Create Columbus Commission. Prior to joining the nonprofit sector, Siobhan practiced domestic and appellate law and was a founding member of the Columbus Bar Association's LGBT Committee. She is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, DC and the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University.

Stratton Pollitzer | Deputy Director, Equality Florida

Stratton co-founded Equality Florida in 1997 and serves as deputy director where he co-manages a staff of 30 and oversees the Fundraising, Finance, and Safe Schools departments and serves as chair of Equality Florida Action PAC. He has helped raise over $40 million for LGBT causes. He engages regularly in coalition work including reproductive rights, racial justice, immigration rights, police oversight, and has a passion for wildlife and the outdoors. A political science graduate of Emory University, Stratton has also worked as a Montessori school director and a social worker. Stratton grew up in a small coastal town in South Carolina where

his uncharacteristically liberal family has been swimming against the tide since the Civil War as abolitionists, suffragettes, desegregationists, and now LGBT advocates. He and Christopher, his husband of 25 years, live in Miami and have twenty-two year old twins, Benjamin and Sarah.

Susan Rightsell | Deputy Director of Institutional Advancement, Community Change

At Community Change, Susan drives the institutional advancement team in raising the resources necessary to support the organization’s work to build power from the ground up, empowering low-income people of color to change the policies and institutions that impact their lives. In a pinnacle year for Community Change, celebrating a half century while stepping into a new business model and brand, Susan led a record-breaking 50th Anniversary celebration tying past, present, and future of the organization. Previously, Susan served on fundraising teams for the Illinois chapter of Make-A-Wish as well as the national office of Jobs With Justice, helping

grow special events and individual donor programs while instituting a stronger use of data and technology. Born and raised in the Chicago area, Susan studied international economics and political science at Valparaiso University and currently lives in Washington, DC.

RESOURCE LEADERS FELLOWSHIP

2019 Participants

Whelma Cabanawan | Development Director, California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC)

Whelma serves as the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC)’s first development director. With over a decade of nonprofit administration and development experience, she knows first-hand how funders are cultivated to support innovative and mission-driven work. Whelma is strengthening CIPC’s impact and sustainability through institutional and individual giving, as well as events-based fundraising. Soon after witnessing the power of immigrant workers in the historic 2006 May Day March, Whelma joined the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and served as the

administrator and intern & volunteer coordinator until 2013. Prior to joining CIPC, Whelma was the accounting manager with Organize Florida, where she supported resource management for the Fight for 15 Campaign. Whelma holds an MBA in nonprofit management from American Jewish University, an MA in human rights from Central European University and obtained her BA in political science and legal studies from the University of Central Florida.

Trainer Bios

Rajasvini Bhansali | Trainer, Rockwood Leadership Institute

Rajasvini is the new Executive Director of the Solidaire Network and a passionate advocate for participatory grassroots-led social change and movement building. In her wide-ranging international career devoted to social, ecological, and economic justice, she has previously led Thousand Currents as our Executive Director for nine years; led a national social enterprise; managed a public

telecommunications infrastructure fund addressing digital divide issues in Texas; and worked as a researcher, planner, policy analyst and strategy consultant. Vini also worked alongside community leaders as a capacity builder for youth polytechnics in rural Kenya for over two years, an experience she credits as motivating her to work to transform U.S. based philanthropy towards more people-centered practices. Born and raised in India, Vini earned a Master’s in Public Affairs with a focus on technology and telecommunications policy from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor′s in Astrophysics and Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities & Social Sciences from UC Berkeley. Vini has been involved in community organizing and volunteer board roles for the last two decades. Currently, she serves on advisory boards for the Women’s Building in New York City and guest lectures in the Master’s of Leadership in Sustainability Program at the University of Vermont. In 2015, she was honored with a Leaders in Action award by Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP), and she was a Social Entrepreneurship (SEERS) fellow at Stanford University in 2016. Vini is also a published poet, essayist, popular educator,

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2019 Participants

coach and leadership trainer with the Rockwood Leadership Institute. When not engaged with community organizations, Vini can be found nesting with her family in Richmond, CA.

Suzanne Hawkes | Trainer, Rockwood Leadership Institute

Suzanne Hawkes is a management consultant, facilitator and leadership trainer based in Vancouver, Canada. She has over 20 years’ experience helping social justice leaders and organizations amplify their strategic impact through organizational effectiveness, strategic planning, and dialogue. Her vision: a diverse cross-sectoral network of powerful, collaborative, service-oriented leaders working across difference to achieve transformational change. She is a Senior Consultant with InPartnership Consulting, an Oakland-based management consulting firm focused on racial equity. There, she is a co-designer and instructor with the

Racial Justice Learning Lab, and a facilitator with the InDeep Racial Equity initiative for philanthropic leaders. At Rockwood, she co-facilitates Fellowships for Women in Racial Justice, LGBTQ Leaders, Pittsburgh Lead Now and Techquity. At home in Vancouver, Suzanne is an Associate of Simon Fraser University's Centre for Dialogue, and a co-designer and instructor with SFU's Certificate Program in Executive Leadership. She is also a political focus group moderator with Strategic Communications.

Jonathan Relucio | Program Manager, Rockwood Leadership Institute

Jonathan Relucio is a Program Manager with Rockwood Leadership Institute. Jonathan has over 20 years of experience in community organizing, leadership development, education, nonviolence training, and social service delivery.

Before coming to Rockwood, Jonathan taught yoga, meditation, and mindfulness (for stress and trauma resilience) in schools, health clinics, juvenile detention facilities, homeless shelters, and community-based organizations through his work as Senior Trainer and faculty member for Niroga Institute, and as a co-founder of All Thrive Education. In Jonathan’s parallel life, he loves dance, dj-ing, marital arts, and cheering for the Golden State Warriors.